Maintain a quality committee with regular meetings that has the function of monitoring the performance of the electricity supply and product quality indicators, in addition to following the action plans established by the business areas. This committee should encourage and ensure that quality indicators are presented or weekly to employees at hierarchical levels (from managers to electricians). Meetings and panels are used to discuss the evolution of these indicators.

An operation center and maintenance crews should be available 24/7 to manage contingencies in distribution systems. The operation center must be available 100% of the time since the maintenance crews must respond when necessary. Specific crews should also be available to perform inspections in difficult to access zones. For all regions, there must be maintenance crews to cover the entire population served, and for areas with a higher population density.

A department within the distribution company with the task of analyzing the performance of continuity and quality indicators should be functioning. This department must provide reports to executives and help other departments to direct their actions to improve these indicators. This department should have a control methodology for calculating quality indicators with certification recognized as ISO 9000. Within the scope of this area, analyses must be carried out to identify zones at risk of not complying with electricity supply and distribution service, and, if this is the case, appropriate actions must be taken. Trends in continuity of supply and (when applicable) the economic results (periodic evaluation and revision of the continuity practices are suggested) are analyzed. Lastly, the utility should engage the regulator to discuss how investments in monitoring voltage control are recognized by the authorities on the capital investment and operational costs.

It is essential to develop quality improvement or control plan, based on a diagnosis that identifies the baseline (current state of service quality according to the selected and standardized indicators), the specific factors that cause major supply interruptions, the location where supply quality is deficient (region, circuit, customer), the definition of quality objectives and goals, the definition of strategies to address each field of action, the formulation of projects, the definition of an implementati on schedule, the assignment of responsibilities in the organization, the criteria for evaluating the plan, and the economic and financial evaluation of the plan.

Service quality indicators should be recorded regularly and kept consistent with the methodol ogy used for the baseline definition in order for a proper evaluation of the results of the service quality-oriented projects.

As for the possible duration of a quality improvement plan, which may be defined at the sectoral level by distribution subareas, or at the level of the company as a whole, it depends largely on the initial situation and the quality investment effort, which is also closely related to investment in network replacement and modernization (the general condition of the networks may affect quality to a large extent, as well as the remuneration recognized by the regulator for preventive and corrective maintenance expenses). However, taking as a reference the recent case of Colombia, which defines a gradual improvement path of 8% per year until the target is reached, a maximum period of 10 years may be reasonable for companies with deficient indicators.

The  utility  must  have  protocol s  and standards   to   perform   corrective   and   preventive   maintenance   in   the   power substations and networks. There are safety plans for contingencies regarding the quality of the supply and distribution of electrical energy. It is also recommended that a  verifi cation  of the operational  status  of  supply  and  distribution  system elements ( for which visual inspection or operational test is possible ) to be carried out at least once every 3 years , and for the strategic systems, every year.

For both corrective and pre ventive maintenance , the use of GIS tools is desirable to support isolation, repair, and resolution of contingencies , and to effectively track and  record  where  the  maintenance  is  being  made (which  can  provide  valuable planning   information   for   deployment   of   new   quality   driven   programs   and investments) . In systems with various alternative supply sources, operation center protocols  exist  to ensure supply quality  on  initial  use  of  new  supply  sou rces (sources and interconnections), as well as protocols to analyze and resolve non - compliance with applicable regulations regarding supply and distribution quality 

The use of new distributed energy technologies (PV systems, fuel cells, energy storage, and electric vehicles) connected to the grid requires improvements in all interconnection standards to define the requirements that these technologies must need for safe and reliable integration with utility electrical networks. These standards address issues such as power quality and voltage limits and maximum power to be connected. For example, in many countries, local regulations will provide for these procedures, however when this does not occur, countries can use IEEE references such as IEEE 1366 and IEEE 1547 and technical studies. One relevant example is the New Grid Code in Colombia (currently under revision) which considers an important integration of intermittent generation to the national system (not for DG). The study contracted by the Regulator (CREG) proposes different rules in fields like protections ( fault protections ), fast frequency response, and quality of the voltage waveform, for which it is proposed to update the current requirements considering the incorporation of power electronics of wind and photovoltaic farms (FACTS-Flexible AC Transmissions Systems , EES – E lectrical Energy Storage, and in the future HVDC–High Voltage Direct Current ). As far as DG integration is concerned, the connection to the grid must comply with the voltage standards set by the competent authority or the utility for the transmission and distribution system, to avoid negative technical effects on the grid in aspects such as voltage regulation, power flow reversal, thermal limits, short circuit currents, protection coordination, power quality and island operation. Additionally, a generalized opinion is that the integration of distributed generation should be done in stages (such as a moderate stage for the existing grid, full integration, and development of localized markets).

In this context, best practices consist mainly of :

• Carry out specialized technical studies to determine the appropriate technical standard for system capacity availability. For example, in Colombia it was set at a maximum of 15% of the capacity of a circuit.

• Carry out periodic studies to update these standards based on the development of the grid and the incorporation of distributed generation.

• Define and implement adequate procedures to promote the integration of distributed generation. For example, the publication and permanent update in the official Internet portal of the available capacities in each circuit and the connection requests in process, accepted and installed generation; the adoption of standardized formats to submit the connection request, the steps of the process and response time limits.

Natural events can lead to outages with prolonged load interruptions. Although such events are characterized by a high level of unpredictability, utilities have ways of reducing and mitigating their consequences. Some practices for each type of event can be used:

• Lightning strokes is one of the prime factors of unplanned supply interruptions in power systems. Some classical solutions are: (i) cost-effective equipment can be installed on the distribution and transmission lines to find the path of a lightning strike; (ii) correctly use of surge arresters to reduce the induced voltages, that is, surge arresters perform better when grounding resistance is lower, and the adjacent arresters have shorter distances; and (iii) install shielding wire to decrease the li ghtning stroke frequency on the power lines.

• Floods: A change identification method to map floods in urban areas using satellite images can be used to classify images near rivers and forecast where a new flood is likely to happen. The aim is to find the optimal hardening plan for the system resilience and the optimal functioning of the electric power system under the worst event. Some possible actions are: (i) pre-allocation of mobile energy generators; (ii) replan the optimal switching locations using distributed energy resource locations; and (iii) r eview the current power grid to feed critical clients .

• Hurricanes: These events result in a forced reduction in load because of distribution equipment damage . In this situation some solutions are: (i) i nvest in an operation using microgrids concepts in a distribution system to increase the self - healing ability and enable the distribution system to restore sooner during outage occurrence . Also consider the possibility of integration of distributed energy resources in microgrids ; (ii) u se proactive scheduling in response to imminent hurricanes in multiple energy carrier microgrid; (iii) a self - healing methodology by sectionalizing the distribution system into microgrid after the occurrence of a natural disaster can be used; and (iv) d uring hurricanes, develop a method to alleviate the cascading effect in transmission networks using a risk - based preventive islanding method .

• Windstorms: can cause equipment failure when hitting the power grid. To mitigate such effects, utilities must carry out customized projects for transmission and distribution lines for regions with a higher incidence of these events. In the first stage, empirical models are created based on historical and weather data. The second stage involves the real - time tracking of windstorms. During the design of new or assessing the old transmission lines, an acceptable level of compromise between cost and probability of failure must be maintained. In addition, it is possible to establish a framework for microgrids proactive management to coordinate demand-side resources, secure voltage regulation, and generation rescheduling.

• Wildfires: can cause intense temperature, leading to an explosion of transformers and changing dielectric and mechanical properties of T&D lines. Some possible solutions are to : (i) substitute oil-immersed transformers with dry types; (ii) a pply real-time transmission line monitoring to identify the dynamic line rating during normal or contingency cases; (iii) use a cost-effective fire detection mechanism with different technologies; (iv) use distributed framework of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles to avoid humans from dangerous dynamic fire tracking . It reduces the operational cost, correctly tracks the fire progress, avoids in-flight crashes, and collaborate well with nearby vehicles.

The electric power distribution system must be able to supply all the electric  power demand for the different load levels and improving system redundancy is an important enhancement to increase reliability.
Electrical power supply and distribution infrastructure design is conceived to minimize impact due to contingencies, to comply with service standards(quality and continuity) and to renew supply and distribution system elements that take into account the risk of impact on service continuity. In this way, distribution network design criteria exist that  considers the quality of the supply and distribution of electrical energy. Hence, planning and operation of the infrastructure adopts criteria to prevent risk of service interruption and unintended variations in quality (voltage, frequency, capacity, and others).

In planning, the utilities must use the criterion called N-1, that is, the electricity supply must be maintained even if 1 equipment fails in the system, for some customers with high criticality, it is possible to use N-2 criteria. In the operation, with communication and metering technologies, reconfiguration, and islanding schemes of Distributed Generation  ( DG ) are possible methods that can help implement differentiated reliability.
For new assets, protocols exist to ensure the quality of electricity when integrating the new infrastructure to the system. Sometimes these new  assets require for planned interruptions, if so, it is important that customers are notified in advance to minimize the impact of power outages.
Smart meters can also provide certain quality measurements and control features, without an excessive  price  increase for customers, such as the capabilities of voltage quality monitoring.

In general, new investments in power systems seek primarily to meet the increased load of customers, however it is important to seek investments that are directed exclusively at reducing the outage duration and/or number of cus tomers affected for specific outages, such as:

• Install an additional fuse: all outages that are related to a specific location have a probability of reducing the number of customers affected.
• Install sectionalizers: It can isolate faulty portion of distribution line and return service to the circuit.
• Replace a fuse with a recloser: has a high probability of reducing the duration of all outages related to the fuse that is replaced and causes such as lightning, trees, birds, etc.
• Place short distribution lines underground: all outages on this feeder with most causes (e.g. , lightning, trees, traffic accidents, etc.) are removed (the utility can select just some areas for this step)
• Add bird spikes / reflectors: all outages related to birds have a high probability of being reduced.
• Add a barrier to prevent car accidents from causing outages: outages at the location a barrier is added have a probability of being removed.
• Increase the utility spending on media outreach to improve awareness and response time: the duration of outage has a probability of being reduced.
• Install electric energy storage (EES) in rural communities or distant from urban centers, where the installation of cross connects are not economic or even feasible and so maintaining an allowable level of SAIDI.

There is no standard or cost benchmark for quality improvement plans because it depends on the particular case of each company in aspects such as topology ( for emaxple urban-rural topology, radial or redundant networks), network status and indicators in the different regions where service is provided. Depending on the current quality of service level, and on the type of incentives for poor or good quality, the company must carry out a financial evaluation of the investments to define the optimal strategy. For example, in certain radial networks, the definition of the optimal number of reclosers to be installed depends on this analysis.